• WA declared a natural disaster area, worst flooding in 30 years

    An upper-level trough system over southwestern Australia linked with a tropical low further north has produced heavy unseasonal rain over parts of Western Australia on February 9 and 10, 2017. Heavy rain flooded farms and roads and washed away bridges. At least one…

  • Deadly avalanche hits French Alpine resort of Tignes

    At least four people have died and five are missing after an avalanche hit popular French Alpine resort of Tignes early February 13, 2017. The avalanche, the worst to hit the Alps this season, was 400 m (1 300 feet) wide. It occurred at 09:35 UTC (10:35 local time)…

  • Second-largest whale stranding event in New Zealand

    416 pilot whales were found stranded at Farewell Spit in New Zealand's Golden Bay late Thursday, February 9, 2017. On Saturday, February 11, a new pod of 240 whales stranded on the beach, bringing the total number to 656 and making this the second-largest…

  • Record-low temperatures over a large part of Oman

    For the first time since records began, temperatures in Oman's Musandam Governorate dipped as low as 5 °C (41 °F) on February 4, 2017. The same weather setup produced record-low temperatures in southwestern Qatar and relatively rare snow and freezing…

  • Comet 45P to flyby Earth on February 11, 2017

    After more than 5 years, Comet 45P/Honda-Mrkos-Pajdusakova, also known as the Green Comet, will make another close approach to Earth. It can be seen using small telescopes, but 45P has lost its tail after it passed the perihelion (closest approach to the Sun)….

  • Qatar records lowest temperature in history

    On Sunday, February 5, 2017, weather station located in Qatar's southwest measured 1.5 °C (34.7 °F) which is the coldest recorded temperature in the weather monitoring history of the State of Qatar. Qatar Meteorology Department (QMD) said the temperature…

  • Impressive eruption at Mexico’s Colima volcano

    A large and impressive explosion occurred at Mexico's Colima volcano on Friday, February 3, 2017, producing an ash column that eventually rose up to 7.6 km (25 000 feet). The eruption occurred at 23:35 UTC (17:35 CST) and generated pyroclastic flow on the…

  • Extreme levels of radiation detected at Fukushima No. 1 reactor

    According to Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), the radiation level in the containment vessel of reactor 2 at the damaged Fukushima No.1 nuclear power plant nuclear complex has reached a maximum of 530 sieverts per hour which is the highest recorded level since…

  • Earth’s water comes from within

    A new study published recently in Earth and Planetary Science Letters suggests that much of our planet's water comes from within, rather than arriving from space through collisions with ice-rich comets. The study also suggests that chemical reactions responsible…

  • New eruption started at Piton de la Fournaise, alerts raised

    A new effusive eruption has started at Piton de la Fournaise volcano located on the French island of La Réunion around 15:40 UTC on January 31, 2017. The Aviation Color Code was raised to Orange. According to the Observatoire Volcanologique du Piton de la…